Crescent (Amtrak)
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The Crescent is a passenger train operated by Amtrak in the eastern part of the United States. It runs 1377 miles (2216 km) daily from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal in New Orleans, Louisiana as train 19 and returns on the same route as train 20. Most of the route of the Crescent is on the Norfolk Southern Railway.
History
Before Amtrak came into existence, a train called the Southern Crescent was operated by the Southern Railway, a predecessor of Norfolk Southern, between Washington, DC's Union Station and New Orleans. Amtrak's predecessor in the northeast, Penn Central, carried the Southern Crescent between New York and Washington. The Southern Crescent was created in 1970 by combining two trains that had run separately between New York and New Orleans for decades: the Southerner, which ran over the Southern Railway between New Orleans and Atlanta via Birmingham; and the original Crescent, which used Atlanta and West Point Railroad, Western Railway of Alabama and Louisville and Nashville Railroad trackage between New Orleans and Atlanta via Mobile, Alabama. [link] For the combined Southern Crescent, Southern chose the Birmingham route instead of the Mobile route.
The Southern Railway did not join Amtrak when it was created in 1971, but continued to operate the Southern Crescent independently. The Southern Crescent became one of the two last privately operated long-distance passenger services in the United States. On February 1, 1979, Southern left the passenger business and turned over operation of the train to Amtrak, which simplified the name to the Crescent.
When Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in August 2005, the Crescent was temporarily truncated to Atlanta. Service was restored first as far as Meridian, Mississippi as an interim measure as Norfolk Southern crews worked to repair the damage to their lines serving the Gulf Coast. Amtrak restored service to New Orleans on October 9, 2005 with the northbound Crescent
Tracks
The tracks used were once part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad and Southern Railway systems, and are now owned by Amtrak, CSX Transportation, and Norfolk Southern Railway, respectively. The following lines are used:
- See Northeast Corridor for the ex-PRR lines north of Washington, DC, now owned by Amtrak
- Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, Washington to Alexandria, Virginia, now CSX
- Virginia Midland Railway (ex-Southern Railway), Alexandria to Danville, Virginia, now NS
- Piedmont Air-Line Railway (ex-Southern Railway), Danville to Greensboro, North Carolina, now NS
- North Carolina Railroad (ex-Southern Railway), Greensboro to Charlotte, North Carolina, now NS
- Atlanta and Charlotte Air-Line Railway (ex-Southern Railway), Charlotte to Atlanta, Georgia, now NS
- Georgia Pacific Railway (ex-Southern Railway), Atlanta to Birmingham, Alabama, now NS
- Alabama Great Southern Railroad (ex-Southern Railway), Birmingham to Meridian, Mississippi, now NS
- New Orleans and Northeastern Railroad (ex-Southern Railway), Meridian to New Orleans, Louisiana, now NS
Station stops
The Crescent runs as train #19 southbound and #20 northbound, making the following station stops:Acela Express - Adirondack - Auto Train - Capitol Limited - Cardinal - Carolinian - Crescent - Downeaster - Empire Service - Ethan Allen Express - Keystone Service - Lake Shore Limited - Maple Leaf - Metroliner - Palmetto - Pennsylvanian - Regional - Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Vermonter |- style="text-align: center;" |South
Auto Train - Carolinian - City of New Orleans - Crescent - Palmetto - Piedmont - Heartland Flyer - Silver Meteor - Silver Star - Sunset Limited - Texas Eagle
External links
References
- Amtrak (October 6 2005), [Amtrak Trains to Roll Out of New Orleans on October 9]. Retrieved October 6 2005.
- Schafer, Mike; Amtrak's atlas, Trains June 1991
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